Last week we reported that you need to earn $31K and $93K a year to be “middle class” in Maine — that is, earning somewhere between 67 percent and 200 percent of the state’s median income. And the number of households considered “middle class” is shrinking.
Here’s another report that shows those changes in household income over time.
Pew analyzed the data and, between 2000 and 2013, Maine and Wisconsin saw the greatest percent point increases in upper-class households: 3.6 percent. The percent point increase of Maine households moving into the lowest-income bracket was 1.1 percent.
Essentially, a greater percentage of households were marked as entering the upper and lower classes.
The middle class? It shrank. The percent point decrease in that time was 4.7 percent.
Does this mean more people in Maine are wealthier in 2013 than 2000? Not necessarily. The data is based on median income, which shrank over that time period. So it would naturally bump more households into the higher-income bracket even if they didn’t earn more money.
What you should pay attention to is the change in median income. In 2013, you were considered middle class if you earned between $31,473 and $93,948. It’s a drop from 2000, when you had to earn $34,382 to $102,634 to earn that “middle class” designation.
Essentially, compared with about a decade ago, there is a greater strain on the incomes of middle-class households to cover their basic needs.
